WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.080 This soaring tower in Northwest Washington, but a few miles from the White House, rising 00:07.080 --> 00:13.280 459 feet above the ground to become the highest structure above sea level in the nation's 00:13.280 --> 00:19.140 capital, proclaims the presence of NBC's newest color television and radio center, at whose 00:19.140 --> 00:23.560 dedication we invite you now to join with the President of the United States. 00:23.560 --> 00:35.160 Good afternoon. 00:35.160 --> 00:40.640 This is Stuart Finley speaking to you from a ramp overlooking our huge new Studio A, 00:40.640 --> 00:44.160 huge enough almost to accommodate a basketball game. 00:44.160 --> 00:50.680 Here gathered below are hundreds of honored guests, cabinet secretaries, members of the 00:50.680 --> 00:55.600 Supreme Court, members of Congress, to await the arrival at any moment of President Dwight 00:55.600 --> 01:00.040 D. Eisenhower, who will formally inaugurate this most modern communications facility in 01:00.040 --> 01:01.280 the nation. 01:01.280 --> 01:05.480 Let us move now to where the action will begin, outside the entrance of this new building, 01:05.480 --> 01:10.960 to Ray Scherrer, NBC's White House correspondent, standing by to describe the arrival of the 01:10.960 --> 01:13.000 presidential party. 01:13.000 --> 01:21.080 The President's car has just turned in our spruce-lined lane, coming in from Nebraska 01:21.080 --> 01:22.080 Avenue. 01:22.080 --> 01:25.080 Car with the flags, first car in the procession. 01:25.080 --> 01:27.680 Running the turn. 01:27.680 --> 01:33.240 Secret Service cars, newsmen behind him. 01:33.240 --> 01:38.160 Perfect day for this, temperature about 80, bright sun. 01:38.160 --> 01:45.180 You see the presidential flag on one fender. 01:45.180 --> 01:56.200 President riding in the back with two men, Robert Montgomery and Jim Hagerty. 01:56.200 --> 02:00.680 Presidents being greeted by Carlton Smith, general manager of WRC, and by Robert Sarnoff, 02:00.680 --> 02:02.120 president of the National Broadcasting Company. 02:02.120 --> 02:04.920 Robert Montgomery, the president's TV advisor. 02:04.920 --> 02:07.760 Jim Hagerty being greeted by Mr. Sarnoff. 02:07.760 --> 02:12.720 They come inside, the president looks up. 02:12.720 --> 02:15.840 The president has expressed a desire to see the technical facilities inside. 02:15.840 --> 02:20.480 He will be taken below by Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff, and then come up to Studio A for 02:20.480 --> 02:21.840 the dedicatory ceremonies. 02:21.840 --> 02:25.120 Meanwhile, a great number of dignitaries have arrived there. 02:25.120 --> 02:27.360 For that story, to David Brinkley. 02:27.360 --> 02:30.560 Good afternoon. 02:30.560 --> 02:35.100 We are all here, installed in our beautiful new building in Washington, equipped as it 02:35.100 --> 02:40.400 is with everything from the newest color television equipment down to and including the very latest 02:40.400 --> 02:42.240 and potted poems. 02:42.240 --> 02:46.520 Not to mention our new white flagpole out front, flying a flag recently to come from 02:46.520 --> 02:49.160 the dome of the US Capitol. 02:49.160 --> 02:55.040 While the president is looking over the electronic marvels in the technical center downstairs, 02:55.040 --> 03:00.680 escorted around by Mr. Sarnoff and Mr. Smith, our other guests are seated here in Studio 03:00.680 --> 03:05.080 A. In a short time, the president will appear here and will speak. 03:05.080 --> 03:12.600 Among the guests already in their places on the left is Associate Justice Tom Clark of 03:12.600 --> 03:15.400 the Supreme Court of the United States. 03:15.400 --> 03:19.640 Sitting beside him, Brigadier General David Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of the Radio 03:19.640 --> 03:23.420 Corporation of America. 03:23.420 --> 03:28.680 In addition to being the Washington headquarters of the NBC network, these of course also are 03:28.680 --> 03:34.600 local television and radio stations here in Washington, and if I may say so, have a long 03:34.600 --> 03:37.640 and honorable history of serving the public here. 03:37.640 --> 03:40.440 It's one of the oldest radio stations in the country. 03:40.440 --> 03:46.160 In 1923, it got off to a rather shaky start with an inaugural broadcast from a room rented 03:46.160 --> 03:48.920 upstairs over a bank. 03:48.920 --> 03:53.560 The microphones, we've been looking over some history of our broadcasting activities since 03:53.560 --> 03:55.720 it started. 03:55.720 --> 04:00.560 This is the front row of the guests seated in the studio facing the rostrum where the 04:00.560 --> 04:19.920 president, Mr. Sarnoff and General Sarnoff, in a few minutes will appear and will speak. 04:19.920 --> 04:34.680 The station now is over 30 years old. 04:34.680 --> 04:36.960 As we say, it got off to a shaky start. 04:36.960 --> 04:40.800 The microphones in the early days in this business looked like big black shoeboxes and 04:40.800 --> 04:45.120 the announcer on the inaugural broadcast talked into the wrong side of it. 04:45.120 --> 04:49.160 Since then, with a good deal of work, we have managed to improve both the microphones and 04:49.160 --> 04:55.320 the announcer. 04:55.320 --> 05:02.960 Secretary of Agriculture Benson, one of the guests seated here on the rostrum. 05:02.960 --> 05:08.440 John J. Burns, the president of RCA beside him, Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield 05:08.440 --> 05:12.880 seated there too. 05:12.880 --> 05:16.560 The chair, the empty chair is left for the president and Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff who 05:16.560 --> 05:24.400 will be here shortly. 05:24.400 --> 05:27.120 The television station here is one of the older ones too. 05:27.120 --> 05:31.640 In 39, it put on the first demonstration of television in Washington, an interview with 05:31.640 --> 05:33.700 some congressional leaders. 05:33.700 --> 05:37.640 The speaker of the house then was William Bankhead of Alabama who was asked what he 05:37.640 --> 05:42.160 thought it might be like when the sessions of Congress began to be broadcast. 05:42.160 --> 05:45.920 And he said, well, some of them might have to take their feet off the desks and straighten 05:45.920 --> 05:46.920 up a bit. 05:46.920 --> 05:51.560 But this has turned out to be academic because Congress never has allowed its sessions, its 05:51.560 --> 05:56.780 regular sessions to be put on television. 05:56.780 --> 06:02.320 The technical center where the president and Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff are exploring at 06:02.320 --> 06:04.500 the moment is one floor beneath here. 06:04.500 --> 06:10.480 That is the point where from where the broadcasting in this studio and in the two others adjoining 06:10.480 --> 06:13.240 it are all controlled. 06:13.240 --> 06:17.240 The outside, there's our flagpole and the flag I mentioned which we got from the U.S. 06:17.240 --> 06:22.320 Capitol after it had flown over the east front of the Capitol for a time. 06:22.320 --> 06:25.680 The president's punctuality today as always was remarkable. 06:25.680 --> 06:31.680 He was here within about 15 seconds of the time he said he would be. 06:31.680 --> 06:33.640 He usually is at his press conferences. 06:33.640 --> 06:41.280 He always arrives within a few seconds of when he says he will be there. 06:41.280 --> 06:47.960 When this WRC-TV television station first began in Washington about 10 years ago, there 06:47.960 --> 06:51.040 were only 700 sets in town. 06:51.040 --> 06:55.560 And those of us who were on the air here at the time found the audience enthusiastic out 06:55.560 --> 06:57.480 of all proportion to its size. 06:57.480 --> 07:01.720 It seemed that every time we did a program unusually good or unusually bad, which is 07:01.720 --> 07:08.440 more likely, it seemed all 700 phoned right away and gave us their comments. 07:08.440 --> 07:13.120 Just the cornerstone of the building laid about a year ago with Vice President Nixon 07:13.120 --> 07:18.440 there putting on some cement and as you can see it has held in place extremely well for 07:18.440 --> 07:21.360 this year. 07:21.360 --> 07:26.840 This land here at one time was a part of the estate of William C. Whitney, the Secretary 07:26.840 --> 07:29.640 of the Navy under Grover Cleveland. 07:29.640 --> 07:35.100 General Ulysses S. Grant at one time we are told tried to buy the land for his own home, 07:35.100 --> 07:39.240 but he found the price to be excessive and said he would not buy it, he would not be 07:39.240 --> 07:43.280 robbed. 07:43.280 --> 07:48.120 The Secret Service men who accompany the president are waiting outside alongside of his car. 07:48.120 --> 07:53.160 Before he came here, as in fact before he goes anywhere, the Secret Service goes along 07:53.160 --> 07:58.320 ahead and surveys the place as they call it to see that it's safe and that the preparations 07:58.320 --> 08:04.680 for the president's reception are proper and that everything has been provided for. 08:04.680 --> 08:09.680 And if they find it to be not to their liking, the president just doesn't go. 08:09.680 --> 08:15.180 Some hotels in town he can go into and some hotels he can't depending on the physical 08:15.180 --> 08:29.200 facilities for providing for his safety and otherwise. 08:29.200 --> 08:37.760 This building here is approximately four miles or so from the White House. 08:37.760 --> 08:41.240 The president drove here in his limousine as you saw and with the flags flying from 08:41.240 --> 08:53.500 the fenders it makes a very striking and exciting sight. 08:53.500 --> 08:59.080 Some of the many firsts we have found in looking over the history of these stations, the first 08:59.080 --> 09:05.840 program schedule published by WRC promised to deliver to an eager public fashion talks, 09:05.840 --> 09:11.820 financial news, current events, concerts, bedtime stories for children, and instructions 09:11.820 --> 09:13.940 in Pung Chow. 09:13.940 --> 09:18.440 What Pung Chow is or was we do not know and even with the most exhaustive research have 09:18.440 --> 09:20.420 been unable to learn. 09:20.420 --> 09:25.720 But whatever it was, we had it. 09:25.720 --> 09:31.760 The studio equipment, high fidelity or hi-fi music has become as of course you know extraordinarily 09:31.760 --> 09:35.920 popular of late and in designing the equipment here I am told that everything has been made 09:35.920 --> 09:41.720 to meet the most exacting hi-fi standards. 09:41.720 --> 10:04.840 And if you know hi-fi addicts, these standards are pretty exacting. 10:04.840 --> 10:10.400 WRC broadcast the 1924 political conventions among many other things and during its long 10:10.400 --> 10:11.640 years. 10:11.640 --> 10:16.860 The year when Alabama day after day cast 24 votes for Oscar W. Underwood as some of you 10:16.860 --> 10:22.100 may remember and this got to be so interesting to Herbert Hoover that he sent over to WRC 10:22.100 --> 10:26.300 and asked if we or they would lend him a radio so he could listen. 10:26.300 --> 10:29.400 We did and he did. 10:29.400 --> 10:45.200 The president, Ruffles and Clark. 10:45.200 --> 10:59.760 Mr. President, Mr. Sernoff, president of NBC and Mr. Smith, the vice president and general 10:59.760 --> 11:04.560 manager of the two stations here have just come in from their exploration trip down state. 11:04.560 --> 11:06.760 Now down to the platform. 11:06.760 --> 11:13.000 Mr. President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, to each and every one of you 11:13.000 --> 11:21.440 it gives me great pleasure to extend in behalf of WRC TV and WRC our warmest welcome. 11:21.440 --> 11:25.360 We are honored that you have joined with us this afternoon in inaugurating our new broadcasting 11:25.360 --> 11:26.360 center. 11:26.360 --> 11:32.280 An event of such consequence to ourselves and the community is best consummated in the 11:32.280 --> 11:34.280 presence of friends. 11:34.280 --> 11:39.240 And your being here reflects the sentiments we have always held concerning our role in 11:39.240 --> 11:41.520 the nation's capital. 11:41.520 --> 11:47.300 Like yourselves, we consider ourselves an integral part of the capital family. 11:47.300 --> 11:53.040 And just as the District of Columbia is the home of our government, it is as we are dedicated 11:53.040 --> 11:55.520 to the service of the country as a whole. 11:55.520 --> 11:58.360 So are we uniquely privileged. 11:58.360 --> 12:02.680 As the Washington outlet of the network of stations that comprise the National Broadcasting 12:02.680 --> 12:08.400 Company, we too have a larger obligation, an obligation to the community of states that 12:08.400 --> 12:11.400 is the United States. 12:11.400 --> 12:17.600 All routes in Washington go back as far as 1923 when many persons listened to WRC through 12:17.600 --> 12:20.640 earphones attached to crystal sets. 12:20.640 --> 12:26.160 From that simple beginning in a single studio to this moment of dedication of a modern, 12:26.160 --> 12:31.200 efficient, multipurpose color television and radio facility, we have been guided by one 12:31.200 --> 12:36.520 principle, devotion to the service of our country and its people. 12:36.520 --> 12:42.640 If what is past is prologue, we expect the years ahead to be filled with exciting opportunities 12:42.640 --> 12:50.400 to serve you, whether as a member of our Washington area audience or of our national audience. 12:50.400 --> 12:54.600 I should now like to present to you the president of the National Broadcasting Company whose 12:54.600 --> 12:59.400 personal interest has helped immeasurably to bring this dedication day to such happy 12:59.400 --> 13:04.280 fulfillment, Mr. Robert W. Sarnoff. 13:04.280 --> 13:17.800 Mr. President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, during the past 10 years, the 13:17.800 --> 13:23.040 NBC cameras in Washington have focused upon many of the individuals in our audience, but 13:23.040 --> 13:27.760 seldom have we been able with a single sweep of the lens to show America so many of the 13:27.760 --> 13:30.520 faces of the men who govern it. 13:30.520 --> 13:35.000 The presence here of so many ranking members of the government is a persuasive reminder 13:35.000 --> 13:41.400 of our role in interpreting the Washington scene to the 97 percent of Americans within 13:41.400 --> 13:44.880 reach of our sight or sound signals. 13:44.880 --> 13:49.640 With the superb facilities available in this new station, it is a role we hope to fulfill 13:49.640 --> 13:53.420 with increasing skill in the future. 13:53.420 --> 13:57.340 In the brief history of American broadcasting, our chief executives have contributed many 13:57.340 --> 13:59.800 important chapter headings. 13:59.800 --> 14:04.800 President Wilson was the first to test radio when returning from the Versailles Peace Conference, 14:04.800 --> 14:08.600 President Harding the first to speak over a network of three stations, President Coolidge 14:08.600 --> 14:12.520 the first to broadcast from the White House, and President Roosevelt the first to use the 14:12.520 --> 14:16.040 technique of the fireside chat. 14:16.040 --> 14:22.120 And you, Mr. President, have added many significant firsts to our history in opening up your news 14:22.120 --> 14:26.840 conferences to radio and television coverage, in permitting our cameras the freedom of the 14:26.840 --> 14:28.280 White House. 14:28.280 --> 14:32.200 You have enabled us to give the public an understanding of your high office and its 14:32.200 --> 14:36.760 occupant that is unparalleled in American history. 14:36.760 --> 14:42.500 Through your presence here today, you are contributing to another broadcasting milestone. 14:42.500 --> 14:45.700 The cameras you see before you are color cameras. 14:45.700 --> 14:49.060 They are now transmitting a black and white picture. 14:49.060 --> 14:56.800 By pressing this button, which I now do, the cameras are transmitting a live color picture. 14:56.800 --> 15:01.040 When you step before them, you will be making your first appearance on color television 15:01.040 --> 15:03.160 from Washington. 15:03.160 --> 15:08.100 Three thousand miles away in our studios in Burbank, California, this entire program is 15:08.100 --> 15:10.940 being recorded on electronic tape. 15:10.940 --> 15:15.820 The picture, the color, the sound are being captured for posterity through this recording 15:15.820 --> 15:21.640 system which NBC began using on a full-scale basis only last month, the change to daylight 15:21.640 --> 15:22.780 time. 15:22.780 --> 15:28.000 It will permit us, sir, to re-telecast this program to many sections of the United States 15:28.000 --> 15:33.560 several hours later today, and with such true fidelity that millions of Americans will see 15:33.560 --> 15:38.560 this ceremony as though it were being enacted at that time. 15:38.560 --> 15:41.620 I have a strip of this new tape. 15:41.620 --> 15:46.160 I have asked our engineers to make two tape copies of this program. 15:46.160 --> 15:50.200 One will be sent, Mr. President, to the White House for your personal retention. 15:50.200 --> 15:54.280 The other will be presented to the Library of Congress so that its archives may permanently 15:54.280 --> 15:59.560 possess a visual record in color of this significant occasion. 15:59.560 --> 16:02.200 Now we have created one further remembrance. 16:02.200 --> 16:06.820 At my far left, you see a replica of a plaque which has been placed in the wall of the main 16:06.820 --> 16:09.300 lobby of this station. 16:09.300 --> 16:13.120 This plaque commemorates your participation in the dedication. 16:13.120 --> 16:18.240 It is intended as an enduring reminder to all who enter this building of the honor paid 16:18.240 --> 16:24.280 us on this day and beyond that of our obligation to continue strengthening the broadcasting 16:24.280 --> 16:28.920 bonds between Washington and the nation. 16:28.920 --> 16:33.320 And now, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. 16:33.320 --> 16:48.720 Thank you very much. 16:48.720 --> 16:56.680 President Sarno, distinguished guests, fellow Americans, I think all of us realize that 16:56.680 --> 17:08.560 in these fast-moving times, it is highly important that our nation's capital should be attached 17:08.560 --> 17:21.080 to every single citizen in this country by the very fastest, best kind of communications. 17:21.080 --> 17:33.640 It is of a nation, of a government, that at one time could tolerate three or four weeks 17:33.640 --> 17:41.080 of study now demand almost instantaneous a reaction. 17:41.080 --> 17:49.920 So it is, again, apparent that unless our citizenry can be informed of the things that 17:49.920 --> 18:01.920 happen in the world and are reflected through the eyes of legislative and executive leaders 18:01.920 --> 18:08.720 in such a way that they may understand exactly what these things mean, then the United States 18:08.720 --> 18:12.120 cannot react as it should. 18:12.120 --> 18:22.320 Now, today, as I came through this building, which will itself make these communications 18:22.320 --> 18:31.880 better, more rapid, more comprehensive, I was completely overwhelmed by the technical 18:31.880 --> 18:40.480 complexities and problems that the broadcasting industry has been solving. 18:40.480 --> 18:45.760 I do not know whether the rest of you in this audience have been able to make that same 18:45.760 --> 18:57.520 tour, but it is like nothing else so much in my mind as the radar room in a big battleship 18:57.520 --> 19:05.960 or some other complex thing that really is entirely beyond my comprehension but is still 19:05.960 --> 19:09.000 capable of exciting my wonderment. 19:09.000 --> 19:18.820 So I cannot fail to congratulate, to felicitate the National Broadcasting Company for this 19:18.820 --> 19:28.080 particular step in the communication, in developing the communications industry of our country. 19:28.080 --> 19:35.920 I felicitate the officials of the company, and I must say I congratulate every citizen 19:35.920 --> 19:44.640 whose understanding of this nation, of the world, will be made better and fuller by this 19:44.640 --> 19:45.920 development. 19:45.920 --> 19:47.120 Thank you very much. 19:47.120 --> 19:59.400 Thank you all. 19:59.400 --> 20:02.360 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 20:02.360 --> 20:07.000 It is fitting that we invite a response now from one who is responsible for the concept 20:07.000 --> 20:09.200 of network broadcasting. 20:09.200 --> 20:16.640 Thirty-five years ago, he spoke at the dedication of WRC, and four years later created NBC, 20:16.640 --> 20:19.660 giving the nation its first broadcasting network. 20:19.660 --> 20:24.480 He has devoted his entire life to nurturing the growth of our industry, serving not only 20:24.480 --> 20:29.920 to bring television to fruition, but also to endow his country with a multitude of benefits 20:29.920 --> 20:32.680 born of the science of communications. 20:32.680 --> 20:45.600 Ladies and gentlemen, the Chairman of the Board of RCA, General David Sarnoff. 20:45.600 --> 20:55.480 Mr. President, distinguished guests, fellow workers, ladies and gentlemen, we are highly 20:55.480 --> 21:00.640 honored, Mr. President, by your presence here today. 21:00.640 --> 21:09.200 And on behalf of my associates, as well as myself, I should like to express to you our 21:09.200 --> 21:17.440 most sincere thanks and appreciation for taking out of your busy day the time to honor us 21:17.440 --> 21:21.300 with your presence. 21:21.300 --> 21:30.080 Having had the privilege of serving under you, both in war and in peace, I know firsthand 21:30.080 --> 21:36.200 how deep is your interest in all forms of communication. 21:36.200 --> 21:45.440 You expressed it very well in the remarks which you have just made. 21:45.440 --> 21:54.360 Gratified as we are by your presence here today, we consider it a tribute not alone 21:54.360 --> 22:02.200 to our company and to our people, but to the entire art and industry of communications whose 22:02.200 --> 22:09.440 development and whose progress has always, as I know, excited your interest. 22:09.440 --> 22:16.880 Perhaps there are some persons in the world who may not be very keen about being seen 22:16.880 --> 22:22.360 in their true and natural colors. 22:22.360 --> 22:31.300 Some of their pronouncements may on occasion bring a blush even to their own cheeks. 22:31.300 --> 22:39.960 And this camera, I assure you, sir, is relentless in its revelations. 22:39.960 --> 22:45.480 Happily, however, this is not so in America. 22:45.480 --> 22:49.140 Here we fear no revelations. 22:49.140 --> 22:52.520 We have nothing to hide. 22:52.520 --> 23:00.960 On the contrary, we want everyone in the world to see America in its true and natural colors. 23:00.960 --> 23:10.720 We want the people everywhere to see Americans at work and at play, to see our institutions 23:10.720 --> 23:19.720 in action, reflecting their ideals and the ideals of our nation, as well as our human 23:19.720 --> 23:22.480 imperfections. 23:22.480 --> 23:30.120 Here we do not seek to be anything other than what we are. 23:30.120 --> 23:40.620 And what we are is not hidden by curtains, nor what we say screened by censorship. 23:40.620 --> 23:48.240 And so, Mr. President, once more I should like to express to you our very deep appreciation 23:48.240 --> 23:57.440 of your presence here, and to assure you that we shall continue to do our very best to make 23:57.440 --> 24:07.040 what contributions we may or can towards the objectives for which our nation and you as 24:07.040 --> 24:10.920 its leader stand. 24:10.920 --> 24:20.680 Objectives that may be very simply stated, the preservation of our freedom and security 24:20.680 --> 24:30.400 and the advancement of the cause of peace and prosperity for all people everywhere. 24:30.400 --> 24:41.360 Thank you. 24:41.360 --> 24:43.320 Thank you, General Sano. 24:43.320 --> 24:47.520 And now I should like to ask our guests who are here in the studio with us if they will 24:47.520 --> 24:52.560 please remain at their chairs until the President of the United States has left the studio. 24:52.560 --> 24:53.560 Thank you. 24:53.560 --> 25:23.400 Now the President, accompanied by Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff, goes out to the stage to 25:23.400 --> 25:28.840 talk about the new N.B.C. building in Washington, where his car is waiting to take him back 25:28.840 --> 25:29.840 to the White House. 25:29.840 --> 25:38.400 He will pass on the way a plaque like this one, saying that on this date, May 22, 1958, 25:38.400 --> 25:40.640 this new building was dedicated by the President Dwight D. Eisenhower. 25:40.640 --> 25:41.620 And there, as you see, is a bas-relief sculpted of him. 25:41.620 --> 25:50.200 And it will be placed in the lobby of our new building here. 25:50.200 --> 26:04.200 General Sarnoff in his response has pointed out that Mr. Eisenhower is the first president to make full use of television and to allow the filming and broadcasting of his news conferences each week. 26:04.200 --> 26:08.200 And the president, we can add to that, is rather proud to have done this. 26:08.200 --> 26:16.200 And in this respect, he also is proud of another thing, of being the first president to allow himself to be quoted on the air and in the press. 26:16.200 --> 26:21.200 In the past, it's always been required that the president's words be quoted indirectly. 26:21.200 --> 26:32.200 Mr. Eisenhower has changed that, has allowed his news conferences to be filmed by NBC and other news agencies, and allows his words to be quoted exactly as he says them. 26:32.200 --> 26:49.200 On returning to the White House, as he will in just a moment, the president will meet this afternoon with an old personal friend of his, General Kenyon Joyce, who was president of the Allied Control Commission for Italy during World War II. 26:49.200 --> 27:00.200 And his schedule for the rest of the day includes a meeting at 3.30 with two members of Congress, Representatives Preston of Georgia and Clevenger of Ohio. 27:00.200 --> 27:08.200 They are on a subcommittee investigating Tuesday's collision between an air, a civilian airliner and a jet military trainer. 27:08.200 --> 27:12.200 They ask for new rules to be put in to try to prevent this in the future. 27:12.200 --> 27:22.200 The air regulatory agencies of the government said they were not able to immediately, so they now go to talk to the president this afternoon about it further. 27:22.200 --> 27:34.200 So from this ceremony, which he probably found comparatively relaxing, he now goes back to the responsibilities of the republic, something no president can ever really lay down. 27:34.200 --> 27:42.200 That ends our ceremonies in Studio A at the dedication of our new building. David Brinkley, good afternoon. Thank you. 27:42.200 --> 28:03.200 So do the official ceremonies marking the dedication by President Eisenhower of the nation's newest color television and radio center, the home of NBC's Washington stations, WRC-TV and WRC-AM and FM draw to their conclusion. 28:03.200 --> 28:26.200 A truly significant day in the history of communications. From the tip of its new tower to the depths of its foundations, planted on one of the highest points in the nation's capital city, this new NBC structure, product of the latest advance in communication science, is equipped as few other stations are to bring you the significant events that transpire in the nation's capital. 28:26.200 --> 28:31.200 Helping to record for you the unceasing march of the history that is made here. 28:31.200 --> 28:41.200 In time, presidents will take their oath of office before our color cameras. Foreign guests, kings, queens, heads of government will step before our microphones. 28:41.200 --> 28:52.200 And to the degree that the finest facilities can bring these and other events into your home in their full splendor, so is NBC and Washington now prepared to serve you wherever you may live. 28:52.200 --> 29:12.200 And so it is with pride that we close with our cameras trained on the bronze plaque bearing the image of President Eisenhower that will, embedded in the lobby wall of this structure, for all time mark this moment of dedication to the service of the nation and this event of profound significance in the progress of communication. 29:22.200 --> 29:29.200 Thank you.